Wild Goose Chase
by Crystal Koneko
Summary: When Botan felt the ground hit her back, she slowly opened her eyes, her lashes thick with water. Blinking, she nudged Yukina next to her and whispered hoarsely, “We made it.” ...Hiei would find them. [HB]
1. Through The Portal

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

_Note_: For the purposes of the plot, Hiei and Botan will already somewhat care about the other. By no means do they have any romantic feelings yet, but it would have somewhat of an impact on the other if something happened to them. Also, Yukina and Botan are _just_ friends. Hence this story is Hiei/Botan.

This first chapter is going to move a little fast, but that's how I want it. It's to make it seem like everything is kind of happening so quickly and it's kind of a blur, so I hope none of you mind. One more thing, Hiei won't be coming in until the next chapter.

_Summary_: An attack on the temple has landed Botan and Yukina in Makai, lost and alone. Will Hiei's wild goose chase to find them ever end? (HB)

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**Wild Goose Chase  
**_Chapter One: Through The Portal_

Fear is an emotion indispensable for survival. -Hannah Arendt

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Botan stared warily at the dark clouds outside from her seat in front of the window. A storm was brewing, she could just tell. Goosebumps crept up her arms and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Something bad was going to happen; there was no doubt in her mind.

Up until this point, she'd been enjoying her short vacation at the temple, occasionally seeing the Reikai Tantei when they stopped by for a visit. She and Yukina often did something together for amusement, such as going to the mall, watching movies together, and always having tea in the afternoon.

The latter being exactly what they were currently doing, she took a shaky sip of mint tea from her cup, sitting in silence with her koorime friend. Botan wasn't the only one on edge, Yukina was also taking quick glances at the grey clouds, hoping not to catch the attention of her friend.

It wasn't the storm that was scaring them, it was that feeling they got while watching horror movies when the girl was running blindly to the killer and they were just tempted to scream at the screen and tell her to go the other way; apprehension. The air was thick and something was hinted in it, not enough to know exactly what it was, but enough to know that it was there and that it wasn't safe.

Botan took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Normally she wouldn't feel so terrified when Genkai was there, but the tough old woman was soaking in the sun on an island in the pacific, deciding to get away for a week or two. That left her and Yukina vulnerable to anything that could get past the wards around the temple.

"…Botan?"

At the sound of her friend's worried voice Botan's head snapped away from the window with a slight jump, "Yes, Yukina?"

Yukina seemed to falter before gaining back her composure, "…You feel it too, right?"

Usually she wouldn't share her fears with her companion, but she didn't think now was a good time to lie. Obviously something was going on if Yukina was as nervous as her, "I do."

"What do you think it is?"

_Nothing good._

Instead of voicing her thoughts she gave her a small smile and took another sip of her tea which was getting cold, "I don't know."

Yukina shifted in her cushioned seat, making sure not to look out the window and to keep her eyes on the pot of tea on the table in front of her. The whole room was fatally quiet, which made the already chilling situation even creepier.

…"Yukina?"

She moved her gaze back up to Botan and the two stayed silent for a moment, their hearts racing with fear, "What is it?"

"Yukina, please keep calm, but… I saw something moving in the trees. Something that's not supposed to be there," Botan whispered, her hands shaking, making some of the tea in her cup spill over.

At that moment, the perfect moment, they heard plates in the kitchen crash and shatter on the floor, harsh voices, and loud footsteps already making their way to the hallway. Botan was right, something bad happened.

Yukina quickly set down her tea, careful not to make noise and attract attention to themselves, and Botan grabbed her hand, quickly pulling the two out the shoji door.

_How did they get through the wards?_

Rain started pouring down on them, soaking their kimonos, making it harder to run. The water dripped down their cheeks as the two women ran through the woods with labored breathing, looking for any type of escape.

Botan tripped, pulling Yukina down with her. She let out a sharp cry as her knee dug into a particularly sharp rock. Botan ignored the blood running down her leg and pulled the two of them to their feet. Running again, Yukina looked back to see a demon rushing after them. The smell of Botan's blood must have led it to them, "Botan! Where are we going? They're right behind us!" she basically had to scream over the thunder and crashing rain.

Botan glanced back and started running as fast as she could, forgetting all about the gash in her leg, "The portal, Yukina! The portal! It's in the clearing up ahead!"

Yukina's eyes widened, but she stayed silent. It was either the portal or the demons that want them dead.

_The portal leads to Makai…_

Using the portal would be like going from the frying pan and into the fire, but it was their only means of current survival. But the demon wouldn't be able to get through once Botan closed it. They would deal with Makai when they got there; right now all that mattered was getting out of direct danger.

Yukina winced as she felt sharp claws digging into her back, pulling her away from Botan. The demon had finally caught them, and she struggled to get away. Unable to release herself, that left Botan to hit the demon over the head with her oar and then pull Yukina away from him, again dashing to the portal.

They had just about reached the clearing with the portal and Botan had already started opening it when the demon was behind them again. Botan looked back to see him right behind Yukina, who had her eyes shut tightly. She grabbed her hand to keep their momentum going, only to hear the sickening slicing of skin and cracking of bones.

Stopping in her tracks, Botan turned around and stared silently at Yukina. There was a large spear of ice sticking out of the ground, protruding through the demon's body. The two stood there awkwardly before Yukina nodded towards the open portal. They scampered towards it, hearing more demons behind them in the forest.

When Botan and Yukina reached the portal they jumped through, Botan closing it behind her as she felt her insides churning and she was thrown through the dark hole. When she felt the ground hit her back, she slowly opened her eyes, her lashes thick with water. She weakly wiped the water from her eyes, her vision not blurry anymore. Blinking, she nudged Yukina next to her and whispered hoarsely, "We made it."

Yukina kept her eyes shut and nodded, taking a shallow breath. The brisk air brushed against their wet clothes, making Botan cold, but not bothering Yukina in the slightest. Botan shivered and took in their surroundings. The trees seemed dead, yet had leaves on them. They had landed on a dirt path, and the sky was a deep orange. She couldn't sense any demons around them, which was a good thing at the moment. Looking to her left there was a log along the side of the path, serving as a bench.

Botan rose, giving her hand out to Yukina, who'd finally opened her eyes. Yukina grabbed her hand and was pulled up by her friend. They sat on the bench silently before Botan glimpsed at the tears forming Yukina's eyes, "Hey, are you alright?"

Yukina shook her head, letting the tears fall from her eyes and turn to hiruseki stones before they hit the ground, "Botan, I've never taken a life before."

Her eyes widened and Botan wrapped her arm around Yukina's shoulder, "Don't blame yourself, okay? We were in danger, you were just trying to protect yourself!"

Yukina shook her head, "That doesn't make it right!"

Botan decided to stay silent and let her friend weep. Killing for the first time was hard for anyone, and depending on whom you are and your intentions, it gets easier each time going. But this was Yukina, who was sheltered from anything of the likes, and wouldn't be doing it a second time. Innocent Yukina who cried when birds died and never wronged anyone she'd ever met on purpose. Botan figured it would be better to give Yukina time to let the pain out, and eventually over time she'd accept killing something for her own safety.

But they couldn't sit there and wait long enough for that to happen, they had to get somewhere safe. They didn't even know where they were! So with much regret, Botan picked the hiruseki stones up off the ground and tucked them in her obi, and gave Yukina a slight shake. Softly she told her friend they needed to heal and then find the nearest town.

Yukina nodded and wiped her eyes, pulling herself together, "Let me heal your knee, Botan."

Botan nodded and smiled at her, "And then I'll see what I can do with those scratches on your back," she said and winced as she stuck her leg out for Yukina to heal. Within seconds the wound had closed up and was no longer there. Motioning for Yukina to turn around, Botan started using her white magic to close the scratches on Yukina's back.

_Ouch, they look like they really sting._

When they finished that, Botan sighed and patted her pocket. Her face instantly brightened and she pulled the communicator out, "Look, Yukina! We can contact somebody to help us!"

Yukina giggled and wiped her forehead of the dirt that had gathered when they hit the ground, only succeeding in smudging it across because of the water.

Botan didn't have the heart to tell her what she just did and instead pressed the button on the communicator that connected to each of the Reikai Tantei. She frowned when nobody answered but left an urgent message anyway, "Guys we were attacked at the temple and went through the portal in the clearing, we're in Makai and we're lost! I don't know how long we'll be able to last here, please come find us. Right now we're," She didn't finish before she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, "Yukina! Look out!"

Dropping the communicator, she pushed Yukina down onto the ground as some sort of bird swooped down towards them, its claws outstretched. It landed in a tree and turned around, swooping back down at them. That thing could have taken their heads off with how sharp its talons were.

Botan crawled away from Yukina and summoned her oar, swinging at the bird when it passed. She missed, and the bird was able to leave a long scratch on her arm. She winced, but swung again, this time hitting the bird. It cawed loudly and finally flew away, the wing where she hit it slightly off balance.

Botan groaned, looking over at the broken communicator, the pieces and gadgets scattered all across the path.

_Just great! How are we supposed to contact anybody now?_

"Botan, are you okay?" Yukina asked, slowly getting up off the ground and walking over to her friend, wondering what she was staring at.

Botan shook her head, droplets of water flying, "I broke the communicator."

Yukina looked down at the broken contraption worriedly, "Do you think we should find that town then? And get some new clothes? I know it's not a good idea for you to be recognized in Makai," she said, smiling tiredly.

_She's right, we need to blend in._

"Yeah," Botan sighed before tearing her gaze away from her communicator, "But we need money for clothes… and food too."

Yukina frowned, they didn't have money, they obviously had no time to think about it before they left the temple. And most ways of making money in Makai weren't what would be called moral. Things weren't exactly looking up for them.

Botan bit her lip, trying to think of someway to get money. But she kept getting distracted by the stupid stones in her obi!

…_Stones in my obi?_

Botan jumped up in excitement and cheered, grabbing Yukina's hands and doing a little victory dance. Yukina went along, extremely confused, "Botan-chan, what's going on?"

Botan giggled, letting go of Yukina and pulling the hiruseki stones out of her obi, "Your hiruseki stones, Yukina! You know how expensive they are, we can sell them or trade them for food, clothes, and money!"

The smile that formed on Yukina's face lifted each of their spirits, "Do we want to go north?"

Yukina may not have known where they were, but after living in Makai for most of her life, she knew which direction she was going in and how to get around.

"You lead the way!" Botan giggled merrily, following behind Yukina, who had already set up the path they'd landed on. As they moved along, her thoughts drifted from a cheery mindset to their chances of survival.

_Okay, so we were only here for about ten minutes before we were attacked, which means another could come at any time. We need to be as alert as possible. And we only have ourselves for protection, no Reikai Tantei to help. Let's see then… Yukina has her ice powers, not the most advanced, but useful. We both have healing powers, and I have my oar and white magic. I don't know how much good the oar will do, but the white magic can come in handy as long as I'm not up against brute force. Not the best of odds, but we can work with that._

Yukina, not used to Botan being so quiet, spoke up, "Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"No, no! I'm perfectly fine, Yukina-chan! I'm just wondering how long it's going to take us to find that town," She answered, marching ahead.

* * *

Genkai sighed, walking up the steps of her temple. Her vacation was wonderful, but she just go so bored that she decided to come back early. Now that she had, she completely regretted her decision. 

_What the hell was I thinking? I'll have that idiot student of mine annoying me when I could be on the island, all by myself with peace and quiet._

Reaching the top of the steps, she noticed something was off. Her wards were sizzling, the ashes of the paper still hot on the ground. Running to the shoji and throwing it open, she noticed all of her furniture was tipped over, glass was shattered on the floor, and nobody was there.

"What the hell happened here?"

((End Chapter))

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Now I know it was short, but all of the first chapters in my stories are short. Oh, I've decided to delete Shadows of Fate, it's a dead story and my inspiration for it has gone down the drain, so this will be its replacement. I hope you liked it, review, ne? 


	2. Let The Games Begin

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

_Note_: My goal for each chapter is ten reviews. I'm not saying if I don't get ten new reviews for each chapter I won't update, it's just my goal. Reviews are good for every author's inspiration. And thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter.

I've also decided to take a new approach with this story. In all my others I like to convey the character's feelings by what they say and dialogues, but in this one I'm going to try and reflect emotions more through what they're thinking or what I'm writing. We'll see if it works.

Also changed the rating.

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**Wild Goose Chase**  
_Chapter Two: Let The Games Begin  
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_

Now Genkai was never the kind of person to panic in any kind of situation, but to return to her home where two girls that were supposed to be there weren't and her furniture thrown about wasn't doing anything for her aged nerves. Especially when the wards she put up around her temple to keep away demons were burnt to a crisp. After rushing into each room and calling the two women's names for about fifteen minutes, the elderly woman finally had to rest and take a deep breath. Leaning against the wall for support, she ran a wrinkled hand through her hair.

_They're not here. I can't sense them at all. Obviously there was an attack, but were they taken or did they get away?_

Grunting, Genkai pushed herself off of the wall and walked into the kitchen. Careful not to step on the broken glass, she walked to the phone and dialed the number of her least favorite student.

* * *

"Thank goodness, Yukina! We finally made it to a town!" Botan chirped, pointing excitedly over the hill and to what seemed to be a small, but busy village. The fact that it was little made it even more beneficial to them since they had no intention of being noticed. 

Yukina smiled at her enthused friend and allowed herself a deep breath. Walking down the path had put her on wits end, along with Botan, at how potentially dangerous it could be. Their hair made them easy to see and the trees shadowed much of the danger they could have walked past. In other words, there wasn't much chance that they would have made it out of another attack without any mortal wounds. Now that they were out of much of harm's way, Yukina could permit herself to relax a little. Not to say they were anywhere near safe currently, but it put a lot less strain on the two if they could see the threat coming instead of being blind-sided.

Botan wound her arm with Yukina's and pulled them towards the small town. Demons were staring at them, but for the most part ignored them. It was mostly the demons outside of towns that would attack you, but that doesn't mean trouble doesn't brew in the villages too, so the two girls tried to keep their distance the best they could.

The two had reached the town's center after weaving through all of the demons around them, the town really was busy. Yukina pointed out an empty bench they could rest on for a few moments before continuing with their plans, and Botan fervently tugged them over there, plopping onto the bench. Behind the bench was a fountain, which Botan found odd because demons didn't really take the time to admire beauty or architecture.

_Maybe Ningenkai really _is_ starting to influence Makai…_

Yukina looked around wearily, noting all of the small shops surrounding them. Demons were buzzing in and out of them, scurrying to their own homes. It was nice to be in a small and civil town in Makai, it almost reminded her of the island. Almost.

After they'd both had enough time to gather their bearings, Yukina and Botan stood up, trying to decide on which shops to go to, like which one was more important to their needs right now.

"I think we should get some clothes first, we're spotted easily enough. Then maybe a place to stay for the night, we can get food and supplies tomorrow and make way towards Hiei's territory. He's the only one of the Reikai Tantei in Makai right now. So, what do you think?" Botan asked her friend, still looking around at all the different shops the town had to offer.

Yukina nodded with a smile. It had been a while since she'd seen Hiei; he was always so nice to her. She really wondered why sometimes, he didn't seem to like many people. She never bothered thinking too hard on it though, she was happy enough thinking they were friends; she didn't like having any sort of conflict with people.

That decided, Botan and Yukina went into the first clothing boutique they found that didn't seem like a tip off or sold anything revealing. The demon at the register nodded to them when they walked in. He had piercing blue eyes, straight, dark blue hair that went into his eyes in some places, and pointed ears with two earrings on each. He was good-looking, but there was something about him that Yukina didn't like.

Botan hummed and walked into the women's section, grabbing a few kimonos. They were a little too on the dark side for her liking, but that was a given if she didn't want to be seen. She tried to pick the lightest ones she could that wouldn't make her stand out. She picked a nice blue one, a purple, and a green one. Next she decided to get a cloak so her hair wouldn't be so noticeable. She quickly pulled out a navy blue one and stuck it in her arms with the rest of the clothing she picked. Finally, she grabbed a dark knap-sack that would hold their food, clothes, and supplies.

She made her way over to Yukina who'd just finished picking out things for herself. She'd also decided on blue and purple kimono, but her green was much darker than Botan's.

Botan handed Yukina a smaller cloak she'd found; it was a forest green one. She smiled as Yukina took it gratefully; she knew the koorime had a fetish for the color green. Yukina also decided to grab a knap-sack so Botan wouldn't have to bear all of the weight of their stuff.

The two quickly went to the register and handed the man the clothes to ring them up. While he was doing that Botan bit her lip and looked down at her companion, "I saw an inn when we first got here. They seemed clean enough, how about that one?"

Yukina nodded, she remembered passing it too. It was two stories and probably the cleanest place to stay in the village. It reminded her of a ningen hotel, but much smaller and probably without a TV.

The man at the register rung them up and Botan took one of Yukina's hiruseki stones out of her obi and handed it to him. His eyes widened, but Botan ignored it and walked out of the small shop with Yukina after they pulled on their newly bought cloaks, the bell ringing behind them as the door closed.

It was too bad they didn't notice him latching something onto their cloaks while he rung up their clothing…

* * *

"What do you mean they're gone?" Yusuke shouted, pounding his fist on the table. Botan and Yukina were supposed to be safe! 

Genkai glared at her student, "Just what I said."

The Reikai Tantei, minus Hiei, were sitting around the dining room table in the temple. After Genkai's call they came rushing over to find half of the things in the temple smashed or turned over. They found the old woman staring at the wall when they came into the dining room; relieved to see she was all right. It didn't take long to notice Yukina and Botan weren't there with her.

Keiko frowned worriedly at Genkai, "So you came home and everything was like this and Botan and Yukina weren't here?"

"Yes."

Kurama took in the information and was silent a moment before speaking his mind, "Have you checked the communicator?"

Shizuru shook her head, pulling out the one she took from Kuwabara before they left the house to come to the temple. She opened and a red button lit up on the inside, "We have a message…"

Everyone in the room gathered around as she fumbled around with a few buttons until the message screen popped up and Botan's frantic face appeared.

_"Guys we were attacked at the temple and went through the portal in the clearing, we're in Makai and we're lost! I don't know how long we'll be able to last here, please come find us. Right now we're- Yukina! Look out!"_

Keiko felt tears come to her eyes as the screen turned fuzzy. What happened to them? Were they even okay? Apparently they made it away from the demons who'd attacked the temple, but she wasn't so sure they could make it through Makai. She'd only been there once… she didn't like it.

Yusuke wrapped a strong arm around his girlfriend and squeezed gently, but he didn't feel any better about the situation than she did. Botan and Yukina weren't exactly the fighting type and he seriously doubted they'd make it in Makai alone for very long.

Kuwabara finally stopped staring at the screen and started bawling, "My snow princess, oh my snow princess! What has become of you?"

Shizuru whapped him upside the head and rubbed her temples before setting the communicator down on the table. They didn't even know who attacked or why.

"Call Hiei," Kurama stated, his eyes narrowed. Not only was his best friend's sister in danger, so was Botan, "He can use his Jagan to find them."

* * *

Hiei's eye twitched when he heard the annoying jingle of that stupid communicator the ferry girl had given him. He absolutely detested the ring, and even more so the color. _Especially_ when he was in his lush, black, feathered bed and staring quite contently at the ceiling after an extremely long and boring meeting. It rang a second time before he growled, already fed up with the irritating sound, and roughly pulled it out of the drawer it sat in inside the end table next to his bed. 

"What?" He grit out, looking at all of the faces on the other side of the screen. Only, something was missing. It took him a moment to realize it, and he nearly blinked. Where was his sister? …Where was the ferry girl?

Yusuke's obnoxious voice came from the speaker on the side-panel, "Check your messages, Smiley."

Hiei sneered at the detective before pressing the message button and a wet and bruised Botan appeared on the monitor. He watched in a raged silence as the message ended. Botan and Yukina were lost, and it didn't look too good for them at the end. His _sister_ was attacked and who knew what happened to Botan. He clenched his free fist before the screen went back to the group. With his eyes narrowed dangerously and his lips set in a firm line he growled, "Why the _hell_ are they in Makai?"

Genkai's voice rung out from behind them, "I got back from vacation and the wards around the temple were burnt. When I walked in all the furniture was turned over, all the dishes were smashed, and their tea was still out."

_I can't believe I left my sister in the hands of these incompetent fools._

"Didn't any of you check on them?" Hiei grit out, trying to control his anger. If his sister was hurt in any way, shape, or form then heads would roll. Luckily she wasn't alone; she was with the ferry girl. At any rate the two worked well together, meaning they had better chance of survival until he found them, which he would.

"Of course we did!" Kuwabara barked, "But not today! We were all in school and it rained!"

Hiei scowled at the oaf and activated his Jagan. He emitted a low snarl when all he saw was black, "Something's interfering, I can't locate them. But they are alive."

The last thing he heard was Keiko's and Shizuru's sighs of relief before he turned off his communicator and nearly threw it at the wall. Keeping his anger in check, he stuffed the communicator in his pocket and walked out of his room, making sure to slam his door on the way out.

* * *

Yusuke scratched the back of his head as the monitor on the communicator went black, "I'm surprised he didn't rip his wall down and promise us all a slow and painful death." 

Keiko kicked him, "Yusuke, this is no time to be a jerk!"

Kurama turned to them as Yusuke shrugged, "We should inform Koenma, he'll want to know Botan's gone and he may be able to help us."

_We'll need all the help we can get if something's blocking Hiei's Jagan. Looks like I'll be doing some research…

* * *

_

Koenma sucked furiously on his pacifier, trying not to start hyperventilating. Yusuke had just given him the news, and everyone was waiting for his reaction. But the thing was, he didn't know what to do. His top ferry girl and assistant to the Reikai Tantei was gone. Hiei's sister was missing along with her. Not only would his father have his head if something happened to Botan, but Hiei would have the rest of his limbs if any harm was to come to Yukina. Plus they were both his friends, so yes, at the moment he had no idea what he was going to do.

"…Any clues left that could tell us who attacked? That would be a good place to start," Koenma mumbled moments later, finally able to think straight. He would need to call Ayame in later to pull out some files of the people who had anything against Botan or Yukina, and maybe to help calm his frazzled nerves.

Genkai shook her head, "Not in the temple. But none of us checked the surrounding forest around where that portal is."

Koenma nodded his head, "That's where I want you all to look first. In the mean time, I'll have Ayame help me pull out some files of anybody we think has something against the two of them."

"Koenma, Hiei tried to find them with his Jagan. Something was hindering its abilities," Kurama said from his position leaned up against the wall. He hadn't said much of anything yet, still trying to think of anything he knew that could possibly do that.

Koenma groaned, "Great, more problems."

Shizuru got up out of her seat, "We're wasting time, let's get to that portal," she sighed. The longer they took here, the longer they would take finding Botan and Yukina._

* * *

_

Botan threw herself onto the plush bed in the room she and Yukina had gotten at the inn. Inside was a lot nicer than it was on the outside, and they got the best room they could get with Yukina's hiruseki stone. The two women were understandably tired after being attacked, finally finding a village, and getting lost on the way back to the inn (courtesy of Botan).

She let Yukina get a shower first, just wanting to lie down. She leaned into the pillow, giggling in delight. The room they were in was a mahogany color, and there were two beds covered in crimson blankets and pillows. It was nice to relax after the last day they'd had, and after hearing the water run she really wanted to get her shower too; she felt extra dirty and needed to relax her muscles.

About ten minutes later when Botan was about to doze off, the water stopped and Yukina emerged in a fluffy robe, steam coming out from the open door. She grinned and ran in, leaving Yukina to grab her cloak and throw it over herself, instantly falling asleep. Botan immediately stripped off her clothes, got in the shower, turned on the hot water, and sighed happily as all the dirt and blood washed off.

_I hope we get to Hiei's territory all right… we have a long way to go. I wonder if anyone got our message yet?_

* * *

Yusuke's eyes narrowed as he saw blood down the path in the forest. Apparently Kurama saw it too because he could feel his aura slightly flaring along with his own. The group had decided not to split up in case somebody returned to finish the job, not wanting to put Shizuru and Keiko at risk too. 

The trees around them swayed eerily as the wind blew past, leaves swirling in front of the group's path. The sun was starting to set, meaning they didn't have a lot of time to find any clues. Not only that, but that meant it was already dark in Makai, leaving Yukina and Botan out there to fend for themselves in its most dangerous hours.

Kuwabara started wailing when he too saw the thick crimson in the dirt, "My ice pop! Oh, she's been injured! Not my sweet, sweet, cream bunch!"

Kurama glared, he was scaring the girls. They wouldn't have even noticed hat he not said anything. Yusuke slapped his forehead as tears started welling in Keiko's eyes, "Aw, come on, Keiko. They're fine. Yukina and Botan have healing powers, remember?"

Keiko smiled over at him, nodding and whipping her eyes embarrassedly. Shizuru put a hand on her shoulder and smiled, "Yeah, listen to the dummy. He knows what he's talking about."

"I'm not dumb!" Yusuke mumbled, finally making it to the end of the forest.

_Okay, well maybe I am, but- …What the _hell_ is that?_

Yusuke blinked and scratched the back of his head, looking into the clearing, "Hey, does anybody else see some ugly ass demon sticking out of a pole in the ground?"

Shizuru squinted her eyes and nearly gasped, "That's not a pole, that's ice!"

"Oh, good. 'Cause I thought I was going a little loopy, ya know? …Wait. Ice? Does that mean Yukina did that?" Yusuke asked, running up to the carcass. The ice was already half melted, blood dripping down the side of it. Keiko's nose scrunched and she backed away. It was gross.

Shizuru stared blankly at it before saying, "So they were being attacked and Yukina killed it… I hope she's handling that okay."

"With Botan around and being stuck in Makai, she'll probably forget about it until later," Kurama commented quietly, looking for any indication on the demon about where it came from.

_And then she could quite possibly break down… But then again, maybe not. She's not completely fragile, she did grow up in Makai and made it through the whole Tarukane experience more or less fine._

Kuwabara was pulling at his hair, "My poor princess, she must be horrified!"

"Kuwabara, would you shut up?" Yusuke scowled. He kept riling up Keiko, and it was pissing him off. He understood that the guy was in love with Yukina, but there were other people who cared about her! His shouting was just making it worse, and to top it off, it was giving him a headache.

Kuwabara was about to go off on him, but stiffened and nodded. When he saw the look on Keiko's face he felt really bad. He wasn't trying to scare anyone, he was just worried about his girl, "Sorry, Keiko."

She smiled sadly and shook her head, "It's okay. Did you guys find anything?"

Shizuru shook her head, "Kurama and I can't see anything that would tell us who these damn jerks are. It's getting late, should we head back?" she asked, looking up at the moon in the sky. It was getting cold too, and the howl of the wind was really creeping her out.

"We can come back in the morning and make sure we didn't miss anything. Genkai put the wards back up so I don't think any demons will sense the carcass," Kurama said, leading the group out of the clearing and back towards the temple.

* * *

Demons quickly moved out of Hiei's way as he stalked down the corridor and to the training room. They knew when he was in a bad mood to stay away from him; if they got in his way they'd lose their heads. He instilled fear in them, that's what made him a good leader. He threw the door open to find Mukuro examining the weapons lined along the walls. 

He stopped when he was next to her, "I'm leaving."

Mukuro simply turned her head and raised her eyebrow at him before going back to examining, "Under whose orders?"

"My own."

She scoffed, running her finger down one of the blades. He heard her grumble about it not being sharp enough before she turned her attention back to him, "You can't leave. We're in the middle of negotiations."

Hiei glowered at the back of her head. She was just stringing him along until he told her why he needed to leave, and she knew that he knew what she was doing. He didn't appreciate the irritation at the moment, "Hn. I'm aware of that."

"Hm," Was Mukuro's only response as she walked another foot along the wall to look at a different set of weapons. At the moment she was squinting at some shuriken and frowning. Their servants had really been slacking off.

Hiei growled, knowing he was wasting time, and grudgingly said what he needed to say to get the hell out of there, "Yukina's lost in Makai."

"Alone," She murmured, more of a statement than a question.

"No, she's with the onna."

Mukuro nodded, as if she was taking the information in, "Hm."

"I'm leaving," Hiei said again, walking towards the door. He'd already decided to start with the villages on the outskirts of Mukuro's border, since he didn't have anything else to go on. If only his damn Jagan would work, it would take no time at all. Sadly, that wasn't the case, and he wished Mukuro would hurry the hell up and say he could go.

"Before you go, tell the soldiers to get in here and sharpen their weapons."

Hiei smirked, not showing that he acknowledged her statement, though he did, and walked out with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Hopefully the detective would call soon with something useful he could use. And knowing Yusuke, that probably wouldn't happen.

((End Chapter))

* * *

Okay, I've already got most of the next chapter planned out, so all you need to do is review! n.n 


	3. Traveling With The Enemy

_Disclaimer_: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

_Note_: I wanted to know if most of you got why Hiei's Jagan wasn't working. I'm not going to spell it out for you, but I don't think I made it clear enough. There _is_ a reason it's not working and it's in the second chapter if you really look for it. I just didn't want anybody to think all of the sudden and out of the blue Hiei couldn't use it properly.

Also, I know there hasn't been much HB in the story thus far. It's a bit hard when they're not even near each other, but I did manage a nice little thing for this chapter! I'll try and keep them coming, but I can't just have them suddenly realize now that they're apart or something they love each other. No. It would be so... I don't know. But be aware that's not how things are going to happen.

Finally, I'm so sorry for the long wait. You have no idea how hectic these last three weeks have been for me. I made a promise to myself I would update this like ten times faster than I did my other stories to keep up interest, so I'm really trying! Now that my research paper is over, I should be able to keep that promise! So again, sorry for the wait and I'll try not to let it happen again.

* * *

**Wild Goose Chase  
**_Chapter Three: Traveling with the Enemy_

* * *

Botan woke as the first rays of sunlight hit her eyes through the open curtains in the inn room she and Yukina had bought. She groaned, pushing herself out of the surprisingly cushiony bed (it wasn't too common in Makai. They'd really hit the jackpot). After stretching, Botan wiped her eyes and blinked, looking out the window. She supposed they really should have closed that; they must have been too tired to think about it the night before. 

She looked over to Yukina's bed and saw her still soundly sleeping. The poor girl must have been completely worn out. It was really understandable though; Yukina had made her first kill. It must have really upset her because Botan knew Yukina was always up at sunrise, even when she was sick. She decided to let the koorime sleep for a while longer before they left, she wanted her to be on guard when they left and Yukina wouldn't be if she were tired and emotional. Not to say that Botan wasn't either of those, but Yukina was even more so after harming another being; something she ought never to do.

Botan didn't have to get ready or anything, there was nothing to get ready with anyway and she'd already taken a shower and dressed in her purple kimono, so she sat on her bed and stared out the window while thinking some things over. She had no idea how far away they were from Hiei's territory so she and Yukina had no idea how long it would take to get there. They also couldn't keep using Yukina's hiruseki stones unless it was absolutely necessary, it would attract unwanted attention. She'd already made up in her mind to use one today to get things they needed, such as food since they'd already gotten clothing, but get as much money back as possible so they didn't have to keep using them.

_Let's see… we already got clothes, so we need food, I suppose some camping supplies would help. I wonder if they have lighters in Makai… Anyway, we should probably get a map if they have one._

Botan nearly jumped out of her skin when she looked to her side and Yukina wasn't in her bed. She quickly got off of her own bed to see where she went when she heard a giggle next to her. Smiling at her own stupidity, she turned and there Yukina was, trying to smother her laugh. She didn't like laughing at other people.

"Lost in thought again?" Yukina asked, straightening out the wrinkles in the green kimono she'd just put on. She'd woken up to see Botan staring out the window, not really paying attention to anything. Letting her be, Yukina just went into the bathroom to get dressed. When she'd come out again, Botan was still staring outside.

Botan tightened her ponytail and nodded cheerfully despite their situation, "Guilty as charged."

"Should we start buying our stuff now and then come back and get ready to leave again?" Yukina asked her, also looking out the window into the bustling town. It was as busy as the day before, demons running around and trying to get things done.

Botan nodded and beamed, already making her way out the door, "You read my mind, Yukina, dear!"

* * *

"Aw, what the hell? This thing smells nasty!" Yusuke growled, kicking the demon carcass the small group had looked at the night before. They all had come back to finish their examination of it to see if there was anything on it that could lead them to Botan and Yukina or who had attacked. They found nothing. Keiko smacked the back of his head and stared down at the thing, wrinkling her nose. 

"Man, what a waste of time!" Kuwabara complained, staying as far away from the thing as he could. There were birds flying around the clearing, waiting for the Reikai Tantei to leave so they could eat their 'meal'.

Every one of them was frustrated with their findings. Nothing helped at all, and they didn't even have breakfast yet. It wasn't too easy for Genkai to make food for so many people without the help of Yukina. The old woman actually seemed to be taking everything the worst, which really surprised them because she always seemed to take things in stride; she was strong.

Kurama sighed and ran an aggravated hand through his hair, "I believe I'll head to the library in Reikai to get that research done. We're not finding anything here and I doubt there would be books on anything helpful. Besides, I'm sure Hiei would like to know why his Jagan was of no use, he must be very irritated."

"I'll go with you. I'm good with that kind of stuff," Shizuru offered, and Kurama nodded. He didn't mind help if it was the right person; and Shizuru just happened to be that person. They started walking back to the temple together and decided to eat and go, leaving Yusuke, Keiko, and Kuwabara in their wake.

"What the heck are _we_ supposed to do, then? _Hey_! Are you even listening?" Yusuke shouted and shook his fist at them, "Oh, I see how it is!"

Keiko sighed, "Be quiet, Yusuke."

* * *

Hiei walked down the streets of one the demon cities in the southern parts of Mukuro's territory. After looking at the message Botan left again, he concluded they were somewhere south by where the sun was at the time she'd left it. He was about to leave the town, after spending two hours there and not finding anything useful. 

Hiei made sure to check any bars that were in the city, seeing as that's where people with information tended to be. As he expected, nobody in there knew anything. They could be anywhere. Nobody had seen anybody who looked like them together.

He made a decision to see if anybody knew something in the next town south of the one he was currently leaving. Hiei clenched his fists, knowing he could have found them hours ago if his Jagan had been able to locate them. And the fact that it couldn't bothered him even further; it meant something powerful was with them or after them.

As he was walking on the outskirts of the city, he saw a small demon girl chasing a demon boy. The boy looked like he wanted nothing to do with the girl, but the said girl seemed resilient in her chasing.

"Please! It'll be fun! I promise!" Her childish voice called out to the boy who'd finally just stopped and sighed. He obviously wasn't losing her any time soon and maybe if he'd just play with her she'd leave him alone. The girl giggled happily when she reached him.

The boy was muttering sarcastically about how he couldn't believe he gave in and he knew anything he did with the girl wasn't going to be as fun as she claimed it would be, but the young girl didn't seem to mind.

As it was, it reminded him of that one day in the park Botan wouldn't leave him the heck alone and after a while Hiei realized Botan may not be as bad as she seemed. He definitely didn't like her, he just didn't hate her. It had bothered him at first, when he thought about it, but after a while he just let it be. There was nothing he could do; she'd be around as long as he was doing work, work that he was forced to do not work that he wanted to do, for Reikai.

* * *

_"Hi-ei!" A voice called from down at the bottom of the tree he was sleeping in, dragging out the syllables in his name. It was that happy-go-lucky, bubbly voice that he'd had the displeasure of hearing for the last few years of his life. Oh no, the woman just couldn't let him sleep, could she? She had to come to his tree in the park and bother him when he thought he'd finally had a chance to get away from the people who called themselves his 'friends' for a day._

_Hiei decided to ignore her, hoping she would just go away, but having the damndest feeling she wouldn't. Another five minutes of her calling his name (the most annoying way she could, he figured, she knew he hated it when she dragged out the syllables in his name like that), and he finally responded, starting to feel the workings of a headache, "What?" he snapped, opening one eye to look down at her._

_The bright smile she sent him nearly made him sick. It's not that it was an ugly smile, it really wasn't, he just hated how happy she was all the time. How could one who worked with Koenma so much be so giddy? ...It annoyed him._

_"You're so grumpy! You should be happy today! Don't you want to celebrate? You're off probation, just like I said!" She told him, waving the one of the ice creams in her hands at him. He was gonna go out on a whim and guess one of them was from him._

_Indeed he was off probation. Finally he wasn't confined to just Tokyo, but he didn't feel the need to celebrate. He was still stuck in Ningenkai, working for the Reikai prince he despised. At least the ferry onna had kept her promise to get Koenma to take away his probation after helping Yusuke with the Sensui case._

_"Hn. Go away, onna."_

_She frowned and he almost thought he had won and she would go away, but it only took a second before she was up and smiling again, "But I brought ice cream to celebrate with! Come on, you can't tell me you'd rather sit up in that stiff old tree all day instead of having ice cream."_

_Hiei scoffed at her comment. Ice cream with the annoying ferry onna or sleeping in his tree? Not a hard one, "Actually, onna, I can."_

_Botan bit her lip. She was just trying to be nice... well, that and the fact that she had the day off and everyone else already had something to do._

_Besides, she thought, he really should open up more. Or at least try and enjoy himself! _

_Hiei seriously wondered why she was still standing there. He'd already told her he wasn't going to 'celebrate' with her. He didn't even like her. He mentally noted that this was one of the reasons he called her 'baka onna'. Anyway, Hiei wished she would leave already so he could go back to sleep. She always seemed to show up at the most inopportune moments._

_When she still stood there minutes later he growled in clear frustration and turned his attention back down to her, "Why are you still here, Onna?"_

_"The ice cream's going to melt!" Botan answered him, already starting to eat her own vanilla cone. She held up the strawberry one she'd bought for him and shook it a little for emphasis, silently telling him to come get it._

_Okay. Hiei could see why somebody would buy ice cream for a celebration (or at least that's what she called it), even if it was his favorite thing to eat. But what he could not see was how she knew what kind to get him. Strawberry; his favorite. Obviously she somehow knew about his old fetish for human ice cream. And that aggravated the hell out of him. He was supposed to hate everything and anything human. If she told anyone that he liked human ice cream (in particular a certain Spirit detective) he'd never hear the end of it. So with an angry glare set on his features, Hiei fissured down in front of her and made her jump in surprise, "Who told you?"_

_Botan gave him an innocent smile and rocked back and forth on her tip toes, "Oh, nobody really... But, I'll make a deal with you."_

_Hiei resisted the strong urge to wring her neck and stayed silent, urging her to go on. He already knew he wasn't going to like this deal of hers, but he would comply only for the sole reason that he didn't feel like listening to the detective's horrid laugh if he ever found out. Of course, Hiei figured, he could just kill the onna now and be done with it, but he didn't feel like being sent back to Reikai for a new sentencing._

_"I won't tell anybody about you taking a liking to human ice cream, if and only if you eat the cones I bought for us with me," Botan giggled, and sent him another dazzling smile, knowing there wasn't much of a chance he would refuse. Well, not if he didn't want anybody else finding out about his fixation._

Thank you, Kurama!

_"Hn," was Hiei's only reply before he grabbed the strawberry ice cream cone out of her hands and started walking down the path that led to what he deemed as his tree. She was quick to catch up with him, already talking about how Reikai was doing and all of the people she ferried the day before while licking her ice cream cone. He took a few licks of his cone, trying to tune her out. It wasn't working and she just wouldn't stop talking. Finally losing his patience he turned his head to look at her and snarled, "Shut up."_

_Botan instantly stopped in the middle of her sentence and frowned at him, "W-what?"_

_Hiei sent her an irritated glare before sighing and shaking his head. There was no getting through to the woman, "You talk too much."_

_"I do not!" Botan defended, finally making it to the cone of her ice cream. She didn't talk too much; she was just the only one holding up a conversation! It was hard talking for yourself and the stubborn fire demon next to you. She took an angry bite out of the cone and let his last comment slide. It wasn't everyday he talked to her on his own will, even if it was because she was annoying him._

_They'd made it to a small bridge in the park that stood over a koi pond. Botan always liked looking at the fish so she stopped in the middle and looked down into the water at the swimming creatures and Hiei stopped next to her._

_"You know, aren't the fishes so cute? Look at the little one in the middle-" Botan started rambling again after she took the last bite of her cone until Hiei interrupted her._

_"I don't think you can go thirty seconds without talking."_

_Botan let out a half-offended gasp (she really wasn't that offended) and put her hand on her hip, "I can too!"_

_Hiei grunted disbelievingly. She could not. He sent her a challenging look accompanied by a confident smirk, "Show me."_

_Botan stuttered for a moment until she saw the challenging glint in Hiei's eyes. So he thought she couldn't do it, did he? Well, she would show him! She could so do it, "Fine. Starting in five seconds, I won't talk for thirty."_

_Hiei smirked and leaned on the bridge, finishing off the last of his ice cream cone. After ten seconds had passed, Botan was already starting to get fidgety. She started poking her fingers together, tapping her foot, and biting her lip. It was the most amusing thing he'd seen in a while._

_Botan rubbed her hands together and another five seconds passed until she finally couldn't take it anymore, "Fine, fine! Okay! I can't go for thirty seconds without talking! So what?" she burst out, finally letting all the pent up pressure out. Her eyes widened when she heard a deep (kind of dark), but really attractive chuckle next to her. Turning to Hiei embarrassedly she huffed when she saw his amused smirk, but turned away quickly and blushed when he started chuckling again. Botan found it odd how his laugh was so dark but so... well, she didn't know the word for it. But who cares. It was kind of nice to know even Hiei found things funny, even if it was at her expense._

Who knew Hiei had a sense of humor... no matter how screwed up it is.

_When he started walking back down the path they'd come from her eyebrows furrowed, "Hey! Where are you going?"_

_Hiei stopped and he looked over his shoulder at her with a satisfied smirk, "I ate the ice cream with you. That was the deal, wasn't it?" he said before fissuring out of sight and back to his tree, leaving Botan to blink before realizing what he did, "Hiei!"_

_He got comfortable in his tree again and closed his eyes. Maybe the onna wasn't completely useless. She could be amusing if she tried. Hiei snorted at the thought and went back to enjoying the sleep that the onna had interrupted, quite pleased with himself._

* * *

Hiei found it annoying that he thought about her all of the sudden, but it was kind of to be expected since she was one of the two people he was looking for right now. He'd only wished it had been his sister he thought about. She'd better not be hurt. 

By the time the voices of the two demon children faded away, Hiei was on the path to the next town. He flitted through the trees to avoid any un-needed confrontation, not that he couldn't kill anyone who even tried to come near him, but it would be a waste of time. Looking up at the sky, he deduced it was nearly noon.

* * *

Kurama and Shizuru were pulling out piles of books from the shelves of the library and shoving them onto the table behind them. Shizuru sighed and sat down after deciding they had all the books that could help them; it was going to take _forever_ to go through them. Kurama sat down in the chair next to her, sorting the books into two piles. 

"Find out anything you can about items powerful enough to block Hiei's Jagan. I'll go through the books about raw psychic power. They're the only two things I can think of that would be able to counter his third eye," Kurama told her, opening the first book on top of his pile. She nodded and opened one of the books from her own pile, reading about any item she thought fit.

They'd been going through the books for hours until Shizuru said something, "Kurama, I think I found something."

Kurama looked up from his book and slid his chair closer to hers, looking over her shoulder as she spoke, "It's something like an aura inhibitor. So it would hide Botan and Yukina's own specific energy signals. And that's what Hiei's Jagan uses to locate people, right? Anyway, it's some small circular device that attaches onto clothing. If it's pulled off the clothing by anybody other than the person who put it on, the one pulling it off is… zapped like a bug? Okay… so it's like one of those collar's people put on dogs for when they do something bad."

"That's most likely it," Kurama said, marking the page, "But keep looking anyway. There could be other things that would work."

Shizuru nodded and smirked, "Hey, Fox, you ready for a coffee break? We've been at this for three hours now."

"If you insist, Shizuru, if you insist."

* * *

Botan pushed open the door to her and Yukina's room at the inn, throwing the few bags of things they'd bought on the bed. She moaned and threw herself on the bed next to them, "Ugh… I'm so _hungry_…" 

Yukina smiled and gently sat on the bed across from her, "Why don't we order some food from here at the inn and then start moving?" she suggested, pulling out the knap sack she'd bought the day before and putting the food they'd just bought in it. The two women had used only one of the hiruseki stones, just like Botan had planned. They'd gotten money back from some old merchant that was on the side of the road. Of course they didn't get half the money the hiruseki stone was actually worth, but it was enough for food and to still have money left over.

"They have room service here?" Botan asked, snapping her head up. She'd only seen about two hotels/inns in demon world that had room service, and this certainly didn't seem like the sort of place that would have it. Yukina giggled and nodded, "Yes. Though it's a little less convenient, we have to go to the front desk to order what we'd like. And I don't know how good the food will be…"

"Oh, no problem!" Botan cried happily, jumping off the bed. She pulled her cloak back on and ran to the door, throwing it open. She disappeared from Yukina's sight for a second and then walked back scratching her head, "Do you want anything, Yukina?"

Yukina shook her head politely, "No thank you. I got something while we were out, remember?"

Botan bit her lip and put her finger to her chin, thinking about it. A smile broke out on her face when she nodded, "Right! Okay then, be back in a flash!"

Yukina giggled when Botan disappeared again, this time not coming back seconds later. She decided to finish packing their food and other supplies, like their blankets and such, and packer her own knap sack full before she finished Botan's pack for her. When she was done, she sat on the window sill and stared up at the Makai sky. It had been a while since she could do that…

_I wonder how everyone on the island is… And I wonder how Kazuma is. Would he still care about me if he knew that I took the life of another being?_

She didn't even notice she'd shed a tear until something small and hard landed on her hand. Looking down, she picked another of her hiruseki stones up off of the ground. She wiped her eyes softlyand told herself she wouldn't cry until she was back in the safety of the temple walls. She needed to be in an alert state of mind until she and Botan got out of Makai.

"I'm back!" Botan cheered, walking through the door quite pleased with herself. She didn't think she was noticed _and _she got food! Botan's face fell when she saw Yukina's slightly red eyes, "Hey, is everything alright?"

Yukina responded with a reassuring smile, "Yes, everything is fine."

Botan nodded and sat on the bed, "The food should be ready within ten minutes… Oh, hey! You finished packing for me! Thanks," she grinned and zipped her pack up.

"You're welcome," Yukina smiled back at her. She nearly jumped off of the windowsill when there was a knock at the door. She looked at Botan, who looked at her. Botan cleared her throat and stared at the door, wondering who was behind it, "Who is it?"

"Room service!" Was the muffled answer they received. Botan gulped and glanced at Yukina. It seemed way too early for room service, but Botan was pretty sure nobody knew it was her and hadn't heard her conversation with the demon at the front desk, so it had to be them.

Botan slowly pushed herself off of her bed and cautiously made her way to the door. She let her hand rest on the handle for a moment before sucking in a deep breath and opening the door, "…You're not room service!"

Botan backed away from the door and Yukina stood up instantly, freezing the room. Two demons threw the door open and moved in, blocking the way out, "Sorry, we lied."

"What do you want?" Yukina asked from behind her friend as Botan pulled on the knap sack. She knew that meant she was getting ready to run so Yukina quickly put on her own, still keeping her eyes on the demons who hadn't made any sort of move yet; they looked like they wanted taunt them a little bit before attacking.

The two demons finally moved in, leaving some space at the open door, "Well, we noticed that you're friend over there happened to be a ferry girl. After all, it's hard not to notice Koenma's top employee _and_ the assistant of the Reikai Tantei. We're figuring you two here'll be worth a nice sum."

_Shoot! I thought nobody saw me!_

Botan laughed nervously, putting her hands up and shaking them, "No, no! You've got it all wrong! We're not worth a thing, really!" she defended, sweat-dropping when she saw it had absolutely no effect on them. She figured she should start working on her acting skills if she ever got out of this.

The demon closest to Botan finally jumped, baring his teeth at her and swinging his claws. Botan let out a surprised squeak and ducked, just missing having her jugular slashed open. She summoned her oar while she was crouched down on the floor and slammed it into the demon's legs. While it was distracted she quickly crawled away from him, stood up, and pulled Yukina away from the other demon who'd tried to attack the koorime.

Botan stumbled out the door with Yukina and quickly turned back towards it when they were a few feet away, "Quick! Yukina, block the door with ice! It'll distract them long enough for us to at least get a head start!"

Yukina nodded in understanding and her eyes glowed as the door was slowly filled with ice. Botan threw Yukina her cloak which she'd grabbed when put her back pack on. The girl pulled it on as fast as she could and swiftly received a high-five from her blue-haired friend. The two women were out of the inn by the time they heard the ice blocking the door shatter.

"We've gotta go faster!" Botan panted, trying to run as fast as she could, which again was hard with a kimono on. Yukina would have suggested they rip the bottom, but they didn't have enough time for that. Though they did have some luck on their side, seeing as since the two demons were slightly large they weren't the best runners.

By the time Yukina and Botan made it to the outskirts of the village, the demons were right on their tails. It was hard for the two girls to push through the busy crowd that never seemed to die down in the town, and it slowed them down greatly.

Yukina pulled herself and Botan to the dirt as another claw sliced through the air on top of them. Botan hastily pushed her friend to the side as another claw flew in their direction. Botan rolled to the side, but the demon managed to catch her kimono, meaning she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. She glanced behind her to see the demon's partner was still trying to push through the crowd of people, so Yukina had a chance to get away, "Yukina, go!"

Yukina shook her head rapidly. She couldn't just leave Botan there! No, she wouldn't. If she did, not only would she be alone in Makai, but she probably wouldn't be able to live with herself.

Botan shut her eyes tightly as she saw the demon's claw coming towards her face, waiting for impact. It took her a minute to realize that the demon hadn't hit her and she opened her eyes, blinking at what she saw.

The demon from the shop they'd bought the clothes from the day before was standing in front of her and the demon that was attacking her and Yukina was crumpled on the ground. She took the hand he offered to her and was pulled back up to her feet. Botan was at a loss of words so Yukina piped up, "Thank you for helping us."

The man shrugged and smiled charmingly at them, "No problem. I saw you both running past and came to see what was going on. Looks like I came just in time."

"Wonderful timing! Really!" Botan grinned and shook his hand gratefully, "I'm Botan and this is Yukina!" she told him, pointing to herself and then her sheepish companion.

He nodded, seeming to take in the information. He scratched the back of his head with a smile, "So, what are you two doing out here all alone?"

Botan frowned, adjusting the pack on her back that had been pulled to the side when Yukina pulled her to the ground, "We're lost, actually."

Botan wasn't quite sure she should give away too much information to the guy, but he did save their lives. She didn't think anybody who'd just saved them could be that bad! Besides, maybe he could help them and tell them where they were supposed to be going.

"Really? Where are you two headed?"

"North. To Mukuro's territory," Yukina said with a small smile, thinking the same thing as Botan.

The man turned away from them, pretending to look north, but actually trying to hide the smirk that made its way to his lips. They were far too easy; far too trusting. They weren't making this difficult for him at all. All he had to do was set up two demons to attack them, save them, and then they would believe anything he said. Turning back around, he sent them a fake smile, "Why don't I escort you to your destination? If you get attacked again I don't know if you'd be so lucky as to find somebody to help."

"Oh, would you? That's dreadfully nice! Don't you have work, though?" Botan asked with a small frown. She wasn't one to turn down any kind of help in the situation, but she didn't want him getting in trouble with his boss or anything.

The dark blue-haired demon waved it off like it was nothing, "I was gonna quit anyway. It doesn't matter."

Yukina giggled gently, "That's quite convenient."

"Yeah. So, let's get going," He grinned, walking ahead of them. It was about three in the afternoon so they'd be able to make a little leeway before nighttime. Botan and Yukina followed soundly behind, smiling at each other. They had help now; that took a lot of weight off of their shoulders. Botan tapped the man's shoulder and he glanced back, "Yeah?"

"So, um, what's your name, anyway? It would be nice to know then name of our 'savior'," Botan giggled when he seemed to blush. It surprised him how easily it was to fool the two girls. That was the fakest blush he'd ever made.

"Call me Katsu."

* * *

Please read my notes from the beginning of the chapter. The first two are kind of important. Anyway, thanks for reading! 


	4. Game, Set, Match

_Disclaimer_: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

_Note_: Ha, okay. I'm really bad at this whole updating thing. Sorry for taking so long, I lost my inspiration for a _long_ while. I'd literally sit here staring at my computer screen for an hour straight before giving up.

* * *

**Wild Goose Chase  
**_Chapter Four: Game, Set, Match

* * *

_

"Katsu?" Yukina asked timidly while following behind her friend and their new escort. She knew she wasn't very familiar with area since the whole time she'd lived in Makai she was on the Koorime Isle, but she could have sworn they were going in the wrong direction.

Katsu glanced over his shoulder and down to the small woman behind him, "What's up?"

Yukina wrung her hands and debated on whether or not to mention anything. After all, he was being kind enough to help them so it would be rude to question his knowledge. He seemed like he knew where he was going. She shook her head and gave him a kind smile, "Never mind."

"You sure, Yukina?" Botan asked, examining the ice demon. She looked pretty worried; though it was understandable. They were in Makai with no idea where they were or how long it would actually take to get to Mukuro's territory. Botan just wasn't sure if that was the reason Yukina was troubled. Maybe she was still feeling guilty about killing that one guy…

Yukina nodded and gave Botan a reassuring smile, "Yes, I'm sure."

"If you say so…" Botan frowned, but tried not to show it. Turning to Katsu, she brightened up, "Any idea how much longer it'll take to get to Mukuro's territory? I'm itching to get back into a pink kimono," she pouted, looking down at the dark purple kimono she was wearing. Yukina giggled quietly behind their escort.

Katsu scratched the back of his head and looked up in a thinking pose of sorts, "Uh… I'm guessing five days at this rate," he enlightened, pushing down the urge to smirk. In all reality, they wouldn't be making it there at all; not even close.

"Oh," Botan murmured, glancing down at her feet.

Katsu glimpsed at her from the corner of his eye and shrugged, "You couldn't have expected to get there any earlier, could you? Makai is a big place," he told her, nearly rolling his eyes. Botan perked up immediately, "No, I suppose not! In fact, I guess that's no time at all!"

Yukina didn't want to be a pessimist, but she wished that no time at all was a little shorter. The path that Katsu was leading them through was in the middle of a forest; an extremely dark, extremely unsafe forest to be exact. The tall trees that covered the three blocked out any light from the sun, if it was still out. She could feel the eyes of lower demons on their backs as they walked, only not attacking because they weren't strong enough to do any damage; not that it made it any less unnerving. The breeze that would have been comforting in any other place made the leaves on the trees sway ominously in the shadier parts of the path and the bushes rustle as if creatures in them would jump out at any second. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck pricking up and she had to wonder if Botan or Katsu were as afraid as she was at the moment. At any rate, the group wasn't going to stop until they got out of the forest and Yukina had no idea how much longer that would take.

"Hey, don't get so worked up. It won't be much longer 'till we're out of here," Katsu told Yukina after looking back at her. She nodded and smiled her thanks to him.

_I'm sure we'll be fine with Katsu's protection.

* * *

_

Yusuke sighed in boredom and tapped his fingers against the table loudly. Ignoring the glare he'd gained from Keiko, he twisted in his seat, leaned back into the couch, and put his feet up on the coffee table. A few seconds later he started banging his head against the cushion. Keiko narrowed her eyes at him again and he decided to stop, this time opting to whistle loudly.

"Yusuke Urameshi, if you don't stop this instant-" Keiko grit out, only to be cut off by him, "Well, you'd think Kurama and Shizuru would be back by now to give us some damn news!"

Keiko smacked him upside the head, ignoring his complaining, "That doesn't give you the right to be rude! And don't curse!"

"Yeah, Urameshi! You're so annoying!" Kuwabara added, taking a huge bite out of the sandwich he'd made only minutes before. Keiko sweat-dropped; that was definitely something akin to the pot calling the kettle black.

Before a fight could break out, Genkai, who had been silent the whole time, slammed her empty cup of tea on the table and crossed her arms. Taking a deep, calming breath she opened her eyes and looked at each of them, "You can shut up now. Kurama and Shizuru are here."

Yusuke shot up from his seat and ran to the door. Throwing it open, he ran out to meet them as they got to the top of the steps, "_Finally_! Damn, what did you two _do_ the whole time?"

"It's called research, idiot. Ever heard of it?" Shizuru answered loftily before brushing past him and walking into the temple with a book in her arms. Kurama shook his head at his friend and walked in behind her. When inside, he noticed how fast they had cleaned up the place. Anything that was smashed the day before was either put back together and set in its rightful place or thrown away. All of the furniture was set correctly and any glass that was shattered had been picked up.

_Keiko and Genkai must have done all the work while Yusuke and Kuwabara lounged around._

Kurama dismissed the amusing thought before sitting down on the open arm chair. Yusuke came back into the temple moments later and demanded to know what he and Shizuru had found.

* * *

_Damn it, that's nearly fifty towns I've checked and none of these fools know a thing._

It was true, using his immense agility, Hiei had questioned anyone and everyone he could find in each town he'd made it to in the few hours he'd been gone from Mukuro's castle. Not that he expected to find anything, Makai was an extremely large place, but it was frustrating nonetheless. He needed to find his sister as soon as possible; the onna too. It was a dangerous place for them to be alone.

Yukina was pretty; he wasn't blind. There would be a lot of demons who had no sense of morals after her if they wanted her. And if somebody found out that she made hiruseki stones, they'd most likely exploit her like Tarukane did. Plus, she was with the onna. Even though Yukina wouldn't be unaccompanied, after thinking about it that probably made it worse. Everyone knew Botan was Koenma's top ferry girl and assistant to the Reikai Tantei. Demons would probably either take her for revenge or use her against Koenma as leverage of some sort. If somebody didn't recognize her from the Dark Tournament, then it would be obvious enough from her blue hair and her oar.

Hiei cursed silently to himself before sprinting off to the next town.

* * *

Shizuru put the book she and Kurama took from Reikai's library and set it in her lap, turning to the page she'd marked off. She looked at each person in the room before sighing, "You aren't going to like it." 

"We already _know_ that! Tell us something we don't!" Yusuke cracked from the couch across from her and she glared pointedly at him. Kuwabara elbowed his friend in the ribs, "Shut _up_, Urameshi! You don't know how scary my sis' can really be!" he cowered, thinking back on all the times Shizuru beat him to a bloody pulp.

Shizuru rolled her eyes and brushed some of her hair behind her ear, "If you'll shut up now I'll start," she told them and they immediately quieted up. Seeing that she had everyone's attention she continued after glancing down at the words in the book one last time, "We could only find one thing that would really block the Jagan's power; it's an aura-inhibitor of sorts. And since Hiei's Jagan uses auras to pin-point locations… well, you get the point. The problem is the only person who can take it off is the person who put it on. If anyone else tries to take it off, the person wearing it is shocked," Shizuru took a deep breath and finished.

Kurama shifted from his position on the arm chair at that point and continued where Shizuru left off, "That's a problem; it means that Yukina and Botan can be controlled by whoever put it on them, if they even know it's on them," he explained and instantly his companion's faces went distressed. Keiko leaned back into the fluffy couch and stared at the ceiling before speaking up, "Is there any chance they put it on themselves?"

Kurama shook his head with a sigh, "They probably wouldn't have looked for one and it's a fairly rare item. You have to have the right connections to get your hands on it. Also, we couldn't find anything that would counter it, which means we won't be able to get it off of them."

"This is just great," Yusuke groaned, crossing his arms, "We can't get in contact with them, they could be injured, and some dude could have them. How much worse could this get?"

"Don't say that dimwit, you never know how true that might be," Genkai glared at him.

* * *

Botan trudged along, her backpack finally starting to feel heavy after hours of carrying it through the forest. To make matters worse, her feet hurt like they never had before. She was feeling slightly bad for Yukina, since the girl was in the same predicament as herself and even smaller, so the backpack was probably weighing even more down on her. Botan shifted the pack on her shoulders and blushed when her stomach growled, ending the eerie silence that had gathered as they walked through the dark trees. 

Katsu, who was ahead of the two women, looked back, "You hungry? We could stop to eat, though it would take longer to get out of the forest."

Botan scratched the back of her head with an embarrassed grin and glanced behind her at Yukina asking silently for permission. The small Koorime nodded and took her own backpack off her back, "Of course, Botan. I'm a little hungry myself," she told her with a smile and pulled out some food for herself out of the front compartment of the bag.

"You're the greatest, Yukina dear!" Botan beamed and did the same, grabbing a snack to hold herself over with. She sat on the side of the path at a spot where there wasn't a creepy bush or tree and settled into the grass. Katsu came over and sat watching her as she ate, unnerving her to no end, "Um… are you hungry? I don't mind sharing."

"No, as a demon I don't need food everyday," He explained, as if she didn't know. Katsu didn't stop staring after she nodded and started eating again, but she chose to ignore it despite the feelings of being uncomfortable. Yukina watched the exchange with confusion, but could clearly see Botan's uneasiness and grabbed her pack before walking over to the two and settling next to them. Botan flashed her a quick smile before eating with much vigor, wanting to get out of the forest and to Hiei as quickly as possible.

Botan stopped in the middle of a bite out of her cracker and sweat-dropped. The thought was so foreign, odd to her; the want to get to Hiei because she'd finally be safe. If anything, she should be afraid of him and should want to stay as far away from him as possible. The feelings of safety she knew would be there when they finally made it to Mukuro's territory were just so weird because Hiei would be the one evoking them. But she knew Hiei would get them out of Makai as soon as he saw them, especially if Yukina was with her. He wouldn't leave Yukina here. He wouldn't leave her here, either.

Botan shook herself out of it and finished her bite when she noticed Katsu laughing at her. She swallowed and huffed at him, "What?"

"You space out easily," He commented off-handedly and grinned, "You both ready to get out of here?"

Yukina perked up and grabbed her pack before standing, "Readier than you'd think," she said with a light giggle and helped Botan to her feet. Botan put her heavy backpack on her shoulders after putting the food back and managed a happy smile, "Let's get out of here!"

"As you wish," Katsu mumbled to himself of sorts, but still making sure Botan and Yukina heard it; they thought nothing of it.

* * *

Hiei stopped flitting from tree to tree in his trek to the next city when an annoying jingle sounded from his pocket. Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Hiei grabbed the ugly pink contraption from his pocket and flipped it open to see Kurama's face on screen, "Hn?" 

"Hiei, I believe we've found the reason why your Jagan cannot locate Botan and your sister," he said before elaborating the story to Hiei, his facial expression grim. Though it didn't seem so horrible that the girls were wearing an item like that, it meant that whoever had put it on them has control of the situation.

Hiei nodded dismally and shut the communicator, moving on to the next city.

* * *

"He took that well enough," Shizuru remarked, coming up behind Kurama as he closed the pink communicator. He glanced back over his shoulder at her and nodded. She had left to get herself a drink when he'd announced that they should give Hiei the information they found out. 

Yusuke got off the couch and walked up next to the two, "Yeah, the little guy didn't kill anything. I'm surprised. Anyway, that old hag said we're all welcome to stay for dinner. Keiko's already out there helping her in the kitchen."

Shizuru smiled, "I'm staying; I'm starved. Besides, I doubt Kazuma would even leave without getting some food in that bottomless pit he calls a stomach," she scoffed and raised an eyebrow at Kurama. He nodded at them both, "I'm a bit hungry myself. I suppose I'll volunteer to set the table, because I know Yusuke and Kuwabara aren't going to," Kurama answered with a smirk in Yusuke's direction and walked off.

Yusuke shook his fist in the direction Kurama walked away, "Damn right I'm not going to!" he growled and stalked off towards Kuwabara and whapped him in the back of the head, starting another fight. Shizuru shook her head and made her way out of the warm 'living room' of the temple and into the kitchen to help Keiko and Genkai.

* * *

"It shouldn't be much longer now," Katsu stated as he, Botan, and Yukina walked by another row of creepy bushes. Botan let out a breath of relief at the thought; being in the forest was just asking to get attacked. She grabbed Yukina's hand and ran up to Katsu's side, "That's wonderful! Where will we be heading when we get out of here?" 

"A few friends of mine don't live too far from this forest, we'll be going there," He answered and flashed the two girls a grin. The problem was Katsu didn't have very nice friends. Well, in any case, they wouldn't be very nice when they finally got their hands on the two girls he was traveling with. Not very nice at all.

Katsu could still remember the first day he saw the blue-haired woman. It was a few years back when he and his friends were still working for one of the illustrious crime organizations Makai. Unfortunately, that business got out of hand when humans started getting killed, and of course the damn Reikai Tantei had to interfere with everything.

* * *

_Everything was ruined. The place they called 'headquarters' was completely destroyed and their leader was dead. Everyone was running; including himself. The Reikai Tantei were leaving, but eliminating any demons they saw as a threat along the way. Katsu pulled his brother along, he had been wounded when the Reikai Tantei had busted in and could barely walk on his own._

_All of his efforts to keep his brother safe were wasted when he heard someone shout, "Spirit Gun!" and a hot pain shot through his back. Katsu fell to the ground in pain, his vision blurry. Managing to lift his head up, he watched as the Reikai Tantei ran past. And that's when he saw her. The blue-haired woman looked back at him and his brother as she ran, and it felt as if time had stopped as her eyes practically bore through them, but then she quickly looked back ahead as the man with spiky black hair and red eyes scathingly told her to hurry up. _

_After they were out of his sight he was slowly was able to sit up despite the pain and blood oozing from the wound on his back. He swallowed and turned to his brother who wasn't moving on the ground. He quickly shook him, but there was no response. Flipping his brother onto his back, Katsu saw the blankness of his eyes; it was obvious. He was dead. He clutched the grass under him and bit back the horrid, rage-filled scream that was building in his throat._

_Those bastards had killed his brother and they would pay, if it was the last thing he would do.

* * *

_

To add insult to injury, that idiot Botan hadn't even remembered him when she'd seen him. But that was okay, Katsu told himself. She would get what was coming to her all in due time. It was a shame she ended up dragging her innocent friend into this, but he really didn't care; it was more leverage against the Reikai Tantei.

Seriously, his revenge so far was going so nicely. It was just the easiest thing to send a few people who also had a grudge against the Reikai Tantei over to the old hag's temple and go after the two women there. Now, of course they weren't supposed to get away, but it had all worked out in the end when they walked into the shop he was in. And had anybody been there to stop him? No, not one of those idiots was smart enough to know what was going on.

Katsu snapped back to reality when Botan, who was still next to him, giggled. Turning to her he raised an eyebrow, "What's so funny?"

"You, silly!" She exclaimed and Yukina tried to stifle her own giggle behind her hand.

Katsu pouted at them and scratched the back of his head, "I don't get it…"

"It seems like I'm not the only one who spaces out easily," Botan explained and out of nowhere her cat face appeared. Katsu sweat-dropped and shook his head, "You're really weird, Botan."

"I tend to get that a lot," She said and finally quieted down. A few minutes later she suddenly grabbed on to Yukina and shook her excitedly, "Look ahead! There's the end of the forest!" she pointed in front of them while jumping up and down. Yukina smiled brilliantly along with Botan; they would finally get out of the eerie forest and be one step closer to getting to Mukuro's territory.

Katsu could barely contain the smirk threatening to come up. He was so, so close. All they had to do was walk out of the forest. And those stupid girls; they had no idea what was coming. Their smiling faces made this whole thing even better; they were so naïve. They wouldn't be smiling for long, "Alright!" Katsu spoke up and pushed them along in the friendliest manner he could muster, "Let's get the hell out of here."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Botan exclaimed and nearly skipped the rest of the way. Yukina silently followed behind, but how pleased she was nearly radiated off of her in waves. Katsu walked in the back a few feet behind the koorime. His hands shook in anticipation as they made it out of the forest.

* * *

Shizuru sighed and dropped her chopsticks onto the table. The room was in an awkward state of silence as they ate. The only thing that could be heard in the room was chewing and the sound of chopsticks scraping bowls and plates. It was starting to get on her nerves, "Okay, I know it's not the same without Yukina and Botan, but could we at least _try_ to have a nice dinner?" 

"It's just so dim without them," Keiko frowned, also setting down her chopsticks. She was really trying to be optimistic, but she just couldn't. Two of her best friends could die any minute and she wouldn't even know. The temple just seemed so dreary without the two bright faces of Yukina and Botan; she couldn't even imagine how Genkai felt living here without them all of the sudden. Keiko kept her head low, looking at her plate because she could feel the tears springing to her eyes. She looked up only when she felt a strong arm encircle her shoulders, "Yusuke?"

"We'll get 'em back. Don't worry, with Hiei on the job it shouldn't take long," Yusuke said, locking eyes with everyone in the room. Kurama and Kuwabara nodded in agreement, Genkai grunted, and Shizuru smirked. Keiko smiled at him, "Thanks Yusuke. You're right. Though I never understood why Hiei was so protective of Yukina…"

Yusuke sweat-dropped and scratched the back of his head while laughing nervously, "Oh, who knows! We all know how weird Hiei is; no use trying to figure him out!"

"He better not be after my snow popsicle!" Kuwabara shouted and clutched his chopsticks so tight that they broke. Kurama chuckled and shook his head at him, "I highly doubt that's the reason."

* * *

"Oh, finally!" Botan cheered as the three walked past the last tree of the forest. It was nearly nighttime; the sun was just going down, leaving a pallet of bright colors in the sky. It would have been calming if the moment they had stepped out Yukina hadn't turned around to see Katsu smiling sadistically at them, his fangs clear to see. She took a step away from him and towards her blue-haired friend. She swallowed and whispered to Botan to turn around. 

The instant Botan saw Katsu's face she pulled Yukina further away from him and backed up even further herself, "W-why are you looking at us like that?" she asked as more demons appeared from along the path and surrounded them, "What is this?"

* * *

Sorry if this chapter was boring, guys. But have no worries, something I'm sure you'll all consider good is going to happen next chapter! There, you have your preview, so click the cute little button on the bottom that says review. 


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